Actor Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation has sued the architect of scores of homes the nonprofit sold to Lower 9th Ward residents who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina.
Make it Right itself was recently sued over the homes’ shoddy construction.
The new lawsuit against local architect John C. Williams was filed Tuesday in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.
It says that repairing the water damages caused by Williams' flawed designs could cost Make It Right more than $20 million.
“Unknown to the Make It Right entities, but known to (Williams) at the time, the moisture and water intrusion problems were the result of defective design work” the architect performed, attorney Victor Franckiewicz wrote in the suit.
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Williams also said the homes would be deemed “platinum” under the LEEDS, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification program, when in fact they missed that mark.
Make It Right said in the suit that the flaws in Williams’ designs were separate from problems caused by a wood product, TimberSIL, that was used in 2008 and 2009 on 39 properties. The nonprofit sued that product's manufacturer in 2015 for more than $500,000 after wood it provided rapidly deteriorated, though the two parties settled out of court later and Make It Right got a judge to dismiss the suit.
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